Her family had sold their farm in Tennessee and came west with the Saints. Shortly after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, John Hardison Redd moved his family 55 miles south, just above the present site of Spanish Fork.
They had built a log cabin and the men were busy in the field planting crops. As Mary Catherine lay sick she requested the company of her younger brother, Lemuel. He was hard at work plowing in the field and her father thought it best that he didn't come in until evening when the sun had set. Lemuel never made it to see his sister. Mary Catherine died within a few hours. She was only seventeen.
She was buried on a bluff overlooking the river bottoms. Others would follow. Another brother, John Holt Redd, was thrown from a horse and died from his injuries. Just three days later, his mother died from a broken heart. In 1858, John Hardison was killed after being kicked by a horse.
All four members were buried in what was known as the “Redd Cemetery.” Since then it has taken on other names such as Old Palmyra Graveyard, East Bench Graveyard and Upper Cemetery. Today it is known as Pioneer Heritage Cemetery.
The bluff still overlooks the Spanish Fork River basin and it isn't difficult to imagine how it may have looked 168 years ago. The riparian land of the river bottom is largely undeveloped except for a few farms.
Circumventing the cemetery is a walkway with several plaques and memorials giving the history of the graveyard. One lists 116 people who were buried here, all between the years 1851 and 1866. When the new cemetery in Spanish Fork was built around 1865, most citizens opted to be buried there. Many had their deceased family members exhumed and transferred to the new graveyard.
For many years the cemetery sat in disrepair. Weeds overran the property and occasionally cattle took advantage of failing fences and trampled the fragile site. In 1941, a project was taken up by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers to erect a monument and make a record of those buried in the cemetery. They scoured existing records and inspected the grounds where they managed to find only fragments of the original headstones.
After 1943, several groups took it upon themselves to maintain the little graveyard, cleaning it up and hauling water for the few plants and trees. In the early nineties, the owner gave the property to the city of Spanish Fork. Since that time a wrought-iron sign was made over the gateway of the cemetery. Boy Scouts have used Eagle Projects to install new headstones, and a statue of a pioneer family now adorns the grounds. Figuratively speaking, after a century and a half, the old pioneer cemetery has been resurrected.
A story is told about a Native American child named “Alpharetta” who was taken in by Mary Ann and John Boice. During the spring of 1854, the child's mother died in childbirth, and the father asked the Boice family if they could care for the child. Mary Ann cared for Alpharetta along with her own son, but soon Alpharetta died from the measles and was buried in this cemetery.
Sometime later, the Boice family was called to move to Kamas. While en route, they were surrounded by a band of angry Indians dressed in war paint. One of the braves, Alpharetta's father, recognized the family and got off his horse and convinced the chief to let them go in peace.
Stories like those of Alpharetta and Mary Catherine Redd abound at the Pioneer Cemetery in Spanish Fork. No doubt there are hundreds more, many of them lost forever. This is probably the biggest reason why I love visiting cemeteries. I always learn something new with each one I visit. Now, this solemn graveyard atop a bluff overlooking a river, will always have a soft place in my heart. ♠
Nice pictures and stories!
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